Popular Minnesota State Park Attraction Shut Down For Foreseeable Future

Visitors hoping to check out this popular Northern Minnesota State Park attraction in recent years have had some bad luck due to a string of circumstances.

The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, a multi-million dollar restoration project, and now a new challenge have allowed visitors only a matter of weeks to visit over the span of the last few years.

The underground mine tours at Lake Vermilion-Soudan Underground Mine State Park have been a popular destination for many years, giving visitors the opportunity to head more than 2,300 feet (almost a half mile) underground to explore the state's oldest and deepest iron mine, located just northeast of Tower, Minnesota.

After many years of offering a cool educational adventure, the last four years have been extremely limited for the public.

The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and a $9.3 million reconstruction project kept visitors from checking out the underground mine from 2020 through May 2024. Excited to welcome visitors back, tours to the public resumed on May 25 of this year after a few years of hiatus.

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A few short weeks after tours resumed, the heavy rains that caused devastating flooding across portions of Minnesota's Iron Range forced the attraction to close once again.

The torrential rainfall on June 18 and a suspected lightning strike impacting their pumping system led to several feet of water in the underground mine, forcing the attraction to be shut down.

As reported by the Timberjay Newspaper in July, the park experienced a roughly 12-hour power outage during the storm that impeded pumping water from the mine. Pumping efforts were further impacted by silt from the flooding getting into one of their pumps, causing extra wear and slowing down water removal.

In the wake of this, the park announced earlier this summer that all remaining tours for the 2024 season have been canceled. In an alert message on the park's website, park officials say underground mine tours are "suspended until further notice"

The Timberjay reports the park doesn't expect to reopen the mine this year as the slow process of restoring the pump system and removing the water continues.

While this exceedingly short window of being open is a real disappointment for those hoping to check out the attraction, there is still plenty to do at the park if you want to go. With hiking, camping, Lake Vermilion access, wildlife viewing, and other historical things to check out, it's still worth a trip to visit the park.